A/N: After almost a month since my last story was finished, I have decided to post my next story early. I know I said I wouldn't be posting until July, but I just wanted to share this story with you all as soon as possible. I am really happy with the way this story has come out so I hope you all enjoy it.

As for my next two stories, the third is finished and will be uploaded possibly at the end of June and I have just begun the final story. I am pleased with the storyline that I have created and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I have done writing it.

So here is my second story - The Magic Man

Enjoy

The Magic Man

Prologue

'911, what is your emergency?'

'I need a police officer! I need a police officer!'

'Ma'am, calm down, what's going on?'

'My daughter's gone!'

'Your daughter is gone? What's your daughter's name?'

'Nina. Nina Jackson.'

'How old is she?'

'She's 9. Please send someone, I need help!'

'When was the last time you saw your daughter?' Officer Garrett asked.

'I put her to bed. She was tired. She had been to a Birthday party yesterday.' Mrs Jackson replied, holding Nina's toy rabbit close to her chest.

'What was she wearing?'

'Her pyjamas, her Frozen pyjamas.'

'Does Nina have any underlying health issues?'

'No, she doesn't.' Mr Jackson replied.

'Do you think there would be any reason why Nina would leave the house? Does she have any relatives who live in the building?'

Mrs Jackson shook her head, 'No. No, Nina's scared of the dark.' She pushed the toy rabbit to Officer Garrett, 'She wouldn't go anywhere without this!'

'Ok Mrs Jackson, we know you're upset ok. But we'll find your daughter.'

'Like you've found those other kids?'

Officer Garrett was taken aback, slightly hurt by the comment, but he knew Mrs Jackson was scared, terrified for her daughter's life.

But she was right. They had yet to find the other missing children.

Chapter 1

'What do you think the Captain wants to talk about?' Fred asked.

'What do you mean? He always has a briefing in the mornings.' Daphne replied, leaning on the doorframe, watching as he buttoned up his shirt, covering his muscular torso.

'I dunno, he didn't seem as enthusiastic as usual.' Fred replied. Buttoning the last button on his shirt before grabbing his tie.

Daphne shrugged, 'Maybe they've got a break in the case.'

'Our case?' Fred chuckled, messing up his tie and huffing as he looked at it in the mirror.

Daphne rolled her eyes, she walked over to Fred, removing his hands from his tie, and doing it neatly herself before pressing her hand to his chest and kissing his lips.

Fred wrapped his arms around her before he deepened the kiss, his hands roaming over her body, and he whispered, 'What if we just called in sick today?' He winked, but Daphne shook her head, giving a small laugh.

'Not a chance lover boy.' And she pulled away from him before turning to leave the bedroom. She felt Fred's arms wrap around her waist, and she expected him to drag her back into the bedroom, but he held her. And pressed a soft kiss to her neck, 'I love you.'

Daphne felt her cheeks getting warm, 'I love you too.'

'Come on, let's go.' Fred said, he released her and grabbed his jacket from the back of the bedroom door before they went to the kitchen where they grabbed their stuff and headed to the police station.

'Good morning.' Captain Williams addressed the team, a small group of officers, a Roy Chapman the crime scene photographer and Detectives Daphne Blake and Fred Jones.

'As you know, we are now looking for 6 missing children. It has been a week since Nina Jackson was reported missing and there have been no sightings of her whatsoever.' The Captain explained.

'Blake, Jones. I want you two to go over the files again, make sure there isn't anything we missed. Chapman, I want you to look over the crime scene photos, and Garrett and Dukes, I need you to get me copies of the statements from the families.'

'Yes sir.' Garrett spoke.

'And finally. This is off-topic, but on the 16th there will be a party at city hall, for my retirement.' Captain Williams spoke.

'You're retiring?' Daphne asked.

Captain Williams nodded.

'Wait, the 16th? But that's in 4 days!' Garrett exclaimed.

'Yes, I know.' Captain Williams, 'The 16th will be my last day as your Captain.'

Fred and Daphne had the files of each missing child laid out in front of them.

Fred said, 'Ok, in order of disappearance, Max Preston age 9, Prissy Rossman age 5, Compass Halder age 7, Russell Thomas age 7, Dylan Townsend age 8, and Nina Jackson age 9.'

He pulled the photographs of each child out of the files and the two studied each of them.

Daphne flipped through the pages of her notepad to the notes she had taken a while back, when she and Fred went through the case last month, just before Dylan Townsend was taken on June 19th.

'So, back then we discovered that the children had all been taken from their homes, specifically their beds. There is no chance of them wandering off in the middle of the night as they left behind something they would never normally be without, like a stuffed animal for example. And that some of the children feared the dark.' Daphne said, reading from her notes.

'None of the parents or siblings have been questioned on suspicion.' Fred added.

Daphne cleared her throat, 'There was one.'

'But only briefly.' Fred added.

Benny Preston, the elder brother of the first missing boy, originally told police that he had arrived home from work at 1 AM as he left work late. But after visiting his workplace, Daphne and Fred discovered that Benny Preston had clocked out of work at 11 PM. He was questioned about his whereabouts, and Daphne, Fred, and Captain Williams put together a theory that Benny Preston had returned home after leaving work, possibly took his brother for unknown reasons, and returned home at 1 AM, making sure to make enough noise to wake his mother so he could have someone say "I was home at 1 AM". But Benny Presto – feeling the pressure and realisation that he was possibly a suspect – admitted that he had left work at 11 PM but was with a girl for a while before he returned home.

'And the other thing is, we were going to question the other parents, but Dylan Townsend was taken, and when we read through the file, we found the same thing in the statement from his parents; Dylan had been to a party the day before, as did the other kids.' Daphne explained, Fred nodded at that.

'And the kids don't live that far from each other either, I mean they all live in the Upper East Side but in different parts, so it's someone operating in that area.' Fred spoke.

Daphne sat back in her chair looking at her notes, 'Ok, I think we should speak to the parents again, starting with the Preston's and then the Rossman's, going down the list.'

Fred nodded, he stood from his desk and grabbed his coat while Daphne put her notepad and pen into her coat pocket before sliding it on.